The Toy Department – Episode 449

In Episode 449, Madden and Kolsky have a brief and unfortunate conversation about Arsenal’s star-in-the-making Max Dowman before putting soccer away to discuss:

  • The second episode of Top Chef: Carolinas (2:15), with a very high level of cooking all around and an emerging favorite, plus a few thoughts on Padma’s new show America’s Culinary Cup…
  • HBO’s new Bill Lawrence/Steve Carrell show Rooster (31:10) and its charming combination of comedy and drama…
  • Netflix’s new horny dramedy Vladimir (35:25) and the now-incredibly-overused trick of showing us a potential endpoint in the first ten minutes of a series…
  • Nicole Kidman’s new Amazon show Scarpetta (43:05) and the weird middle ground it finds between police procedural and family drama…
  • The ABA docu-series Soul Power (50:50), the wild and crazy ’70s times in basketball’s upstart league and where the show may have missed some things…
  • Homework for THREE weeks from now, April 8 (1:04:05), including: the next few episodes of Top Chef, Apple TV+’s Imperfect Women, Jury Duty Presents Company Retreat and the third season of Lisa Kudrow’s HBO series The Comeback…

The Toy Department – Episode 448

In Episode 448, Madden and Kolsky are arriving on Wednesdays for the foreseeable future, as they respond to:

  • The premiere of a new season of Top Chef (1:50), this one in the Carolinas and off to a rip-roaring start with a very dramatic elimination challenge…
  • The final Best Picture nominee on the list, Hamnet (30:25), complete with Kolsky’s predictable distaste for the film and some general Oscar talk…
  • The new HBO show DTF St. Louis (48:50) and how it’s got all the pieces of a good show, but at least one of our hosts is struggling with all the misery on television…
  • Homework for next week (1:03:30), including: the next episode of Top Chef, the ABA docu-series Soul Power on Amazon Prime Video, HBO’s new Steve Carrell/Bill Lawrence show Rooster, the Netflix series Vladimir, and Nicole Kidman’s new show Scarpetta (also on Prime Video)…

The Toy Department – Episode 447

In Episode 447, Madden and Kolsky address an upcoming pod schedule change before wading through:

  • The Oscar-nominated film Marty Supreme (2:20) and all of its great acting performances, plus Kolsky’s discomfort with the Safdie style…
  • The Oscar-nominated performance of Rose Byrne (13:00) in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, and the distinctly not-oscar-worthy nature of the film itself…
  • A sort of combined discussion about two network sitcoms (22:00): the Tracy Morgan/Daniel Radcliffe vehicle The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, and the reboot of Scrubs from pod favorite Bill Lawrence & Co…
  • A few thoughts on Chelsea FC and premier league football (32:15), because the hosts can’t help themselves…
  • Homework for WEDNESDAY of next week (39:05), including: the premier of the new season of Top Chef, Hamnet (the final Oscar nominee for the pod), and the new HBO show DTF St. Louis…